An upbeat tale for readers who enjoy genealogical explorations with a side of wholesome romance.
In this novella, a recently divorced middle-aged woman searches for answers about her family history on an idyllic island in Lake Huron and charts a path for her future.
Hughes’ story begins in 1822, when a 7-year-old girl named Gichi is struggling to make sense of her complicated feelings for the adults who surround her. A resident of the isolated Mackinac Island in the Great Lakes, Gichi has suffered personal trauma and hasn’t spoken a word since age 3. The only person who she feels understands her is Niall McIntyre, a transplant to the island from Ireland (“She loved his stories and the way he was so kind to her”). When he leaves to tend to his sick father back home, Gichi is devastated. The story then jumps to 2022, where empty-nester Wanda Roberts is trying to focus on anything other than her long cheating, recently remarried ex-husband. Wanda begins researching her family history, and her investigation soon reveals an undetermined connection to Mackinac Island and a woman named Gichi who lived long ago. With two close friends in tow, Wanda travels to the island in hopes of learning more about her ancestors. As the story unfolds, she meets other residents and travelers who help her understand just how deeply she is connected to Mackinac Island and how history has a way of repeating itself. Told in a dual-timeline style throughout, the novella alternates between Gichi’s story and Wanda’s, highlighting both the extreme differences in their day-to-day lives as well as the many parallels in their personal journeys. For both women, friendship and romance emerge as important themes that Hughes explores with grace and insight. With intriguing details about life on the island, past and present, from the scenery to the reliance on fishing, the story reads almost like a brochure for the place. Although certain plot points feel flimsy at times, especially toward the tale’s end, the narrative is sufficiently engaging to keep readers turning pages. Similarly, the writing is breezy, never delving too deeply into characters’ darker or more complex thoughts. This is a quick, cheerful story full of optimism and second chances.
An upbeat tale for readers who enjoy genealogical explorations with a side of wholesome romance.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2022
ISBN: 979-8985400632
Page Count: 146
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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